Subj : Covid-19 was: Miss.RvrDam To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Sat May 09 2020 10:32:00 Hi Nancy! NB>> Update... a couple days ago, the governor announced that he was NB>> keeping all the schools and colleges closed for the rest of this NB>> academic year... BM> I'm thinking we're keeping schools in Iowa closed until next academic BM> year also; to me makes more sense to have consistency. NB> Yes, it does make sense... And they are trying to have some sort of graduation ceremonies for the Seniors. Videoconferencing just isn't the same. An audience of robots with cellphone faces doens't quite give the same feeling. NB>>> Although we do seem to be coming on the downward side of the curve NB>>> now, there's no way to know whether it will be a quick drop or a NB>>> flatter/longer one... and the last thing we want is for things to NB>>> suddenly spike upwards again... BM>> The experts are mixed, though I think some are trying not to be BM>> Doomsday Prophets. I'm thinking the curve will be long in tapering off BM>> with multiple rises and falls as people 'are released' and forget the BM>> social distancing, cleanliness, etc., and so contract COVID-19. This BM>> reminds people and so they go back to protective measures (social BM>> distancing and cleanliness), and so back and forth. More people will BM>> have developed an immunity (probably to varying degrees) and so that BM>> will also help reduce the curve. NB>> I guess we'll just have to see how things actually play out.... BM> True. Us non-scientists are doing a lot of guessing, and IMO sometimes BM> acting illogically. News reporting pop-up areas of resistance to the BM> stay at home orders; Illinois has two lawsuits pending against the BM> Governor for overstepping his legal authority. OK, so people are BM> getting antsy and seeing nothing happening to them and immediate circles BM> of family and friends; doesn't mean the problem isn't still present. NB> And they'd probably be the first to blame the governor for not NB> keeping them safe, if they or their immediate circle got the NB> virus... Of course! Put the blame on someone else for their ignorance / zealousness. Maybe Gov. Pritzger (IL) did overstep his authority; I don't think any place in the U.S. has laws on the books for this situation. Something had to be done, and sometimes overstepping is required. BM>>> The news has a chart of number of instances by county. Scott, Clinton BM>>> and Muscatine counties (me, north of here, south of here) are the BM>>> highest -- yeah, we're also the most populous (in this part of Iowa) BM>>> -- of course we're going to have the most COVID-19 cases! To me would BM>>> make more sense if also showed percentage. NB>>> That could be a useful tool... especially for an informed comparison... BM>> IMO yes. Lots of little factors not being presented, or maybe better BM>> to say overlooked. Italy had a very high death rate; later reported BM>> because they have an older population, not something 'Italian'. BM>> Though is helpful to know the virus is harder on an older population. BM>> One the opposite end was I think Zambia had no reported cases: they BM>> also had no test kits so unable to report. Had sort of something BM>> similar here: Louisa County (IA) had a sudden spike: they get a bunch BM>> of test kits and so they were able to do more tests and so all of a BM>> sudden a landslide of new cases. Louisa County is in Iowa, so that BM>> cased the Iowa report to have an increase, not as much of a spike BM>> because the other 98 counties' reporting format was constant. And BM>> probably also caused a mild bump in the U.S. reporting. NB>> The ability or inability to test widely does seem to have a major NB>> impact on what the statistics and such end up being.... BM> Oddly yes. :) NB> And maybe not so oddly... ;) Oddly so, even! (I'm positive this will turn out negatively!) BM>> ...Not that I'm scooping out these details, just are there and I'll BM>> sometimes do a quick alternative analysis. NB>> I'm not searching out stuff, but I do listen to the news blurbs on NB>> my classical radio station... sometimes not really because I want to NB>> but because it's there... so I do get somewhat of an overview on NB>> things... Richard has been going on the state website to hear our NB>> governor's daily updates, to get directly what the various executive NB>> orders are.... BM> Locally one of our TV stations has been carrying the Iowa Governor's BM> daily news conferences on one of its subchannels (Ch. 6.3). BM> Personally I would find it boring and the highlights on the news is BM> sufficent. OTOH I don't have a need to go out in the world and so know BM> where not to go to keep safe, etc. NB> Sometimes it's useful to know what really was said, versus what NB> the various interpretations of it end up being... True: in general too many edited sound-bites have given the wrong impression. For me it's more not open yet so can't do it, whatever the 'it' is. I agree with the closures so no reason to fight it. I'm probably not going to rush out as the various "its" re-open: give time for them to settle into the new routine, plus others will be rushing out and I wasn't a crowd person before. BM> My learning was pretty much old style: in person, in class, though a BM> lot of the electronics is self-taught. Mixed results on that: done as BM> a hobby and not as a career. Working on 'stuff' it is sometimes easier BM> to follow along with a printout and/or I'll make notes of problems BM> noted. And sometimes those notes go in work copy and all done BM> on-screen. NB> And since you are just doing it for yourself, there's no pressure NB> to have to learn anything other than what you need, though you NB> might pick up all sorts of other info along the way... :) Yes, I'm quite sure quite a few of the electronics repairs and creations would have been a lot quicker and less frustrating if I had known more stuff. OTOH I'm not doing too bad; just wouldn't want to be hired with that tiny knowldgebase! BM>> There's also a percentage of students who will take off the semester BM>> or maybe even year -- always have been some but I'm thinking even more BM>> than usual. Combination of protective measure and building up some BM>> finances. NB>> Time will tell if more decide it's safer to stay home... for some, NB>> returning to school might be better than staying in a locality that NB>> might be earlier in the curve than where their college is... BM> Right: a lot of variables depending on where. Might be 'safer' BM> (relative term) to live in a dorm than an apartment complex: dorm BM> might have daily temperature checking, spraying of common areas, etc., BM> whereas the apartment building probably would have nothing like that. NB> And on the other hand, there's less crowding (potentially) in an NB> apartment setup than in a dorm.... and one can do their own NB> protective measures.... ;) Good points and bad points for everything. :) NB>>> No one-way aisles here, at least not yet... just the one-way in and NB>>> out of the store.... and a lot of the "stuff in the aisles" to catch NB>>> your attention has been moved out of the aisles to make them wider... NB>>> They expect the carts to help maintain the distancing... BM>> "Come near me and I'll crash my cart into you!!" The one-way BM>> aisles might be more of a psychological thing: it is a lot easier to BM>> stay six feet from the other customer wandering down the aisle but when BM>> they stop to get or contemplate an item one still has to pass them. NB>> There's less chance of spreading contagion if one isn't meeting face NB>> on, I suppose... We still don't have one-way aisles at Wegmans, but NB>> BJ's did put them in for the narrower cross aisles... BM> Again a lot of variables: Wegmans might have ten foot aisles, which BM> would give the 6' spacing. BJ's narrower aisles might be eight feet BM> and so the perception by the customer is too close. Guesses, of BM> course. NB> Dunno... BJ's carts are much bigger, so they tend to crowd aisles NB> anyway... Bigger carts tend to get people to buy more, though might also be more practical as a 24-pack of toilet paper would fill if even fit in the mini-car I use at Hy-Vee. And nothing all that new to report at Hy-Vee: still doing the remodelling, still moving around some items though many seem to have found their home in the remodelled sections. Still noticeable holes in the stock, though less seems to be due to hoarding and more to no supply available probably due to the manufacturing plant being closed. BM> I did go last Thursday - ah! People! :) All of the Hy-Vee BM> associates are required to wear masks -- one in Produce was kidding BM> with me as he kind of liked it as hid if he was sticking out his tongue BM> at a mean customer. NB> Now that could be a definite advantage... As long as he remembers when the mask is no longer required to be worn he isn't wearing one!! BM>>> ...Another thing to add a bit of confusion to my shopping while the BM>>> store is remodelling! Now I need to go down the Baby Food and Pet Food BM>>> aisles!! (Um, that's plural: they're two distinct areas!) NB>>> I'd think so... At least the baby food/baby items has a NB>>> separate section of the store here that I can just ignore... ;) BM>> And helps you can 'legally' skip as no one-way aisle routing! NB>> And even if there were one-way routing, that's in a part that can be NB>> avoided anyway.... :) BM> Hy-Vee still has the long aisles with no mid-aisle cut-through so for BM> now I just walk quickly up the aisle I would normally skip -- less BM> confusing than skipping the aisle I don't want, go past an aisle I do BM> want but is the wrong direction, up the next one (correct direction), BM> then take a left to go down the aisle I had to skip, now skip the BM> aisle I was in previously...... NB> We all make our accomodations to make the complications less NB> confusing in our own minds... ;) At this point just easier to zip down (or up - depending on the one-way) the 'unnecessary' aisle. ¯ ® ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ® ¯ @Q.COM ® ¯ ® .... 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